Live Review : SikTh + Heriot + Ted Maul @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 26th 2026

If you look at the posters for this year's Radar and ArcTanGent festivals, they are littered with performers that simply would not exist without Sikth. Call it mathcore, call it tech-metal or even call it, if you dare, djent. The simple fact is that Sikth birthed a sound and approach that now paths the more interesting of metal’s byways. Like all good innovators, they have been overtaken by those whom they inspired. You see, truly influential bands never get the credit. The Velvet Underground sold fewer than 500 copies of their first album, but everyone who bought it went off and formed a band. The Sex Pistols had less than 42 people in their infamous Lesser Free Trade Hall gig in Manchester, yet those present went off and formed the Smiths, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, the Fall and Simply Red (they do still apologise for the latter). Tonight, therefore, is about marking an album that launched other people's careers. Twenty years on, “Death of a Dead Day” feels relevant, fresh and of the moment. This is because everything around us is still trying to emulate it. 

Aiding on this evening of musical time travel is fellow noughties survivors Ted Maul. This is only their second show back in the fray, having made a majestic return last November at Damnation. Basically, this is angry middle-aged men playing the same angry songs they wrote when they were angry young men. The world is still shit and Ted Maul are not happy about it. Every track is stuffed full of about a hundred ideas. The creativity at play is quite stunning, but there is a tendency for it to come across as bloated and unfocused. Like many metal acts that were begot at the early stages of this century, Ted Maul were looking to take the brutality and rage of the genre and meld it with others influences. It is when we get that splicing and combining that they really make sense as an outfit. There is nothing played that isn't over two decades old, but the drum and bass and electro intervals still miraculously sound innovative and out there.

Solomon J Lucifer Christ (Jeremy Gomez to his gran) is the rockstar we never had. He is an imposing but charismatically enticing frontman. There may well be little room for them to manoeuvre on stage, but he still manages to gallivant around like he is undertaking laps of Wembley Stadium. The close confines of the performance area lead him to leave it altogether and move into the photo pit, where he anoints the small but vocal fraternity of fanboys up front. The rest of the band seem equally wired, even though they are unable to deviate from their hemmed-in positions. Luca Grandi is particularly vocal, motivationally jeering up the crowd and his fellow band members. The energy is infectious, as is the communal excitement of being able to do this all again. This may be the start of an unlikely rejuvenation or may simply be one-shot return to the past, but Ted Maul prove that they still have something to say. 

Sandwiched neatly between two slices of nostalgia comes one of the most relevant and exciting propositions we currently have in modern British metal. Heriot are the real deal. A spikey, brutal bundle of corrosive riffs that have the ability and the attitude to bring emotion and depth to the nihilistic noise. Their approach is wonderfully austere and there is an enticing brevity to their material. The guitars lines are pulsating and angular. The rhythm section surrounds rather than overlays the riffs, giving them space to breathe. There is also an almost jazz or indie feel to the bass loops and drum fills. It marries with the heaviness, taking it into extraordinarily innovative pastures. 

We get one new track from their current toils in the studio. ‘Master of Deceit’ points to a dominant new chapter in the Heriot story. It is weighty and jagged, but the melodic side is becoming much more prevalent. Within the jittery desolation, there is a smooth commerciality emerging that gives their sound real texture and depth. The other thing that is quite extraordinary about the evolution of Heriot is what a strong, confident and convivial frontperson Debbie Gough is becoming. This evening she portrays a commanding presence, betraying just the right level of humility. Essentially, Heriot are at that fantastic sweet spot where every time you see them, they are a better band. The new album is awaited with bated breath.

Having said above, that innovators are often forgotten, Academy 2 is absolutely heaving when Sikth nonchalantly wander onto the stage. It is an audience predominantly made up of men of a certain age with beards of a certain length. This is about remembering the importance of a record that certainly enticed a large proportion of those present to pick up instruments themselves. It is almost the classic line-up. Sadly, James Leach is unavailable, but he is ably replaced by Adam “Nolly” Getgood of Periphery, who apparently had less than a week to learn the entire album. But everyone else is in situ, a little bit older and a little bit greyer, but still capable of creating sounds that feel otherworldly and technically impossible. One of the beauties of the evening is watching Pin’s fingers dance across his fretboard. The dexterity and attention to detail is astounding. This is overtly technical and intricate approach to guitar playing feels second nature in metal now, but that is because Sikth did it first with this record. 

Whilst this is not the first time they have played “Death of a Dead Day” in its entirety, Justin Hill goes to great lengths to explain that he was off doing his day job of hot shot producer at the time and therefore this evening is the first time ever he has sung tracks such as ‘In This Light’ and ‘When the Moment’s Gone’ in a live setting. If there are any jitters they are not noticeable; what we get is a bunch of friends who are obviously enjoying playing music together. There is a relaxed and almost jovial atmosphere, and they stop after each and every track to both enjoy the reverence that is protracting from the audience and to check in with each other and their collective love ones standing on the sidelines. It all feels special, a one-off celebration of something so magical as opposed to a cynical, protracted, financially led reunion. Maintaining Sikth’s legacy has become a hobby for the band as opposed to a day-to-day pursuit. They are loving every minute of it because it is something they get to do once or twice a year. The chemistry between Justin and Mikee on stage feels genuine, organic and raw. They trade lines and even words in an authentic and passionate style. Nothing feels synthetic or gone through the motions.  There is so much love and care in every note created.

Hearing the Album spread out before you in its entirety backs up the notion of just how extraordinarily innovative it was. ‘In This Light’ could be Radiohead. It is deep, evocative and incredibly personal. On the other side of the divide ‘When the Moment’s Gone’ is about as traditionally metal as Sikth gets. The riffs chug and grind, but it still manages to turn convention on its head and veer left when you are expecting it to go right. It is obvious that everybody in the tightly packed room has lived with this album for years and years. We know every line, and we sing it back to them. We revel in every complicated start-stop riff, desperately playing along with our distorted air guitars. When Mikee announces that there is just four songs to go, two from the album and two final surprises, nobody is taken unawares. ‘Another Sinking Ship’ is as ever, incredible and ‘As the Earth Spins Round’ brings the recital to an astounding conclusion. To commemorate the moment, there are pictures taken and the band bath in the euphoric reception.

It isn't an encore as such, as they don't bother to leave the stage, but ‘Pussyfoot’ and ‘Skies of Millennium Night’ act as an appropriate digestif. The pit ratchets itself up another couple of notches, and in the latter Mikee encourages the faithful to scream the refrain “Look at the Sky”. The parting shot is to promise the forbidden fruit of new material. “The Future in Whose Eyes” is itself nearly 10 years old, and since Justin returned in 2022. they have busied themselves with venerating the past. But Mikee promises that something is stirring and that they are poised to chisel at least one more chapter into their tablet. But for now, we get to wallow in the brilliance of what was. This evening Sikth took an astonishing set of songs and made them even more incredible. A brilliant and vital evening that shone a bright light on the legacy of probably one of the most important and influential bands to emerge in this country this century.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
SikTh + Heriot + Ted Maul